Card package and shuffling device



April 5, 1955 M. BRENNER 2,705,555

CARD PACKAGE AND SHUFFLING DEVICE Filed April 17, 1950 ATTORNEY United States Patent CARD PACKAGE AND SHUFFLING DEVICE Morris Brenner, Washington, D. C. Application April 17, 1950, Serial No. 156,324 Claims. (Cl. 206-46) This invention relates to a device adapted to be used as an aid in the shufiling or mixing of cards and more particularly to a device for holding and protecting one or more decks of playing cards such as those used in various card games and designed to facilitate the shuffiing or riffiing thereof during the course of the game.

Numerous devices have been proposed for holding cards and for facilitating the shuttling and distribution thereof, but these devices have been either too complicated, awkward to use or were otherwise unsatisfactory for their intended purpose.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple device comprising a pair of complementary forms, each of which is adapted to hold a portion of the cards and which will support the cards and engage the edges there of in a manner that will facilitate the manual grasping and shutfling of the cards by one of the players.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pair of complementary forms for the purpose above described which are adapted to substantially surround and enclose one or more decks of playing cards to protect them during shipment and storage.

The device of the present invention comprises a pair of complementary forms, each having a flat base portion somewhat shorter than the overall length of the playing cards with which it is adapted to be used and of substantially the same width. Each of the forms is provided with an upwardly and forwardly inclined rear wall which engages the end edges of the playing cards to thereby slant the forward edges for facilitating shuffiing and a substantially perpendicular side wall extending along a portion of one side edge of the base portion which engages and aligns the side edges.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in con junction with the drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing a pair of forms illustrating one preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 a perspective view partially broken away showing the two forms of Fig. 1 arranged to substantially enclose two decks of playing cards and packaged with a suitable wrapping material and binding tape;

Fig. 3 a perspective view illustrating the use of the two forms shown in Fig. 1 in a position to facilitate shuttling together two decks of cards such as those shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 a perspective view of one modification of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail two complementary forms 10 and 12 are shown in detail in Fig. 1. Each of the forms comprises a base portion 14 which is substantially the same width as the usual playing card and is somewhat shorter, as shown in Fig. 3. Of course these forms may be made to any desirable dimensions to correspond to the dimensions of the particular cards with which they are being used, and, although the device is primarily intended for use with playing cards, it may be used to shufiie other forms of cards or papers where desired.

Each of the base portions 14 is provided with a forwardly and upwardly inclined rear wall 16 which may be integrally formed or suitably secured to the base portion 14. Said upwardly inclined rear wall 16 has both its inner surface and its outer surface arranged at an acute angle to the base portion 14 to provide for easily manipulating the card forms with the cards therein and 2,705,555 Patented Apr. 5, 1955 also providing an angular end wall when the forms are used as a package. A side wall 17 is provided along a portion of one of the side edges of base portion 14 and extends substantially perpendicular thereto. The rearward end portion of the side wall 17 is contiguous with one edge of the rear wall 16, and the forward edge 18 is bevelled or inclined downwardly and forwardly.

In the preferred form of the device, as shown in Fig. 2, each of the forms is made of sufiicient height to substantially surround and enclose two ordinary decks of playing cards 20 and 21. This provides a compact unit which may be packaged in a suitable severable wrapping material22 such as Cellophane or Glassine and secured by means of a sealing tape 24.

In the use of the device, as illustrated in Fig. 3, one deck of cards is placed in each of the forms 10 and 12 with the side edges abutting the side wall 17 and the end edges abutting the rear walls 16 and in intimate contact therewith, so that the forward edges of playing cards in each of the decks 20 and 21 are forwardly and upwardly inclined, as indicated at 26 and 27. Since the base portion is somewhat shorter than the length of the cards, the forward portion of each of the decks 20 and 21 is slightly spaced above the supporting surface. This facilitates inserting the thumb under the deck to initiate shufiling.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. 4 one or more decks of playing cards (not shown) may be enclosed in a container 30 formed of relatively rigid material to form a compact package.

The container may be formed of plastic, cardboard or other material having sufficient rigidity for the intended purpose, and is provided with score lines, perforations, markings or other indication of where the container may be broken, cut or otherwise severed, so that one or more portions or forms such as 10a and 12a, similar to forms 10 and 12, may be detached. In Fig. 4 one container is shown which by severing along lines 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 49 and removing sections 32, 33, 34 and 35, indicated by cross-hatching, provides a pair of complementary forms 10a and 12a.

Each of the forms thus detached from the remainder of the container has a base portion 1411, a rear wall 16a, and a side wall 17a with a beveled edge 18a similar to those shown with reference to forms 10 and 12.

However, each one of two decks of cards may be separately enclosed in an individual container, and each con- ;ainer severed to form one of the pair of complementary orms.

One of the forms is grasped in each hand with one thumb against the forward edge of each deck of cards and the cards are shuffled by overlapping the corners in the usual manner.

With the device of the present invention the inclined rear wall 16 automatically gives a slant to the forward end of each of the decks, when it is placed in the form, and this slant makes it easy to control the end of the pile of cards during the shufliing operation. The side walls 17 help to align the cards in the form, but since there is only one relatively short side wall along one side of the base portion there is obviously less wear along the long edge of the cards and the entire deck is visible to the players during the shufiling operation.

The use of this device will make it much easier to shuttle the cards and will produce a more uniform and complete shutfie. It will also decrease the average time required for shuffling and produce less wear on the cards generally and particularly minimizes the bending and ultimate breaking of the cards which results from the usual shufiiing.

While this device is particularly advantageous when used to shuffle together two complete decks of cards in games such as Canasta, it can obviously be used for shuflling only one deck by placing one-half of the deck in each of the forms for use in connection in connection with other card games.

While the device is preferably formed of a transparent plastic material, it can be made of any suitable material that can be fabricated or molded into the desired form and which is sufiiciently rigid for the purpose.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention, without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings'and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A playing card and carton package comprising playing cards and a container therefor of relatively stiff material, said container having thereon separation indications by means of which two separable portions of the carton may be detached and used as forms for facilitating shuffling, each of said forms having a flat oblong base portion and a rear wall extending upwardly along one edge of its base portion, said rear wall having a forwardly and upwardly inclined inner surface, each of said forms having a side wall extending upwardly along a portion of only one side edge of said base portion.

2. A pair of card forms-each comprising a base of substantially the width of the cards and of a length less than that of the cards, and having only an upwardly extending back wall and side wall each of a height not less than half the thickness of a deck of cards, said back wall and side wall being secured together and to the base, said forms being connected together with their bases, side walls and back walls forming a six sided carton and severable connecting material for maintaining the forms in assembled relation for packaging at least one deck of cards.

3. A pair of card forms each comprising a base of substantially the width of the cards and of a length less than that of the cards, and having only an upwardly extending back wall and side wall each of a height not less than half the thickness of a deck of cards, said back wall and side wall being secured together and to the base, said forms being connected together with their bases, side walls and back Walls forming opposite sides of a six sided carton and severable connecting material for maintaining the forms in assembled relation for packaging at least one deck of cards, said back walls being arranged at an acute angle to the base so that each card protrudes beyond the card therebelow.

4. The invention according to claim 3 in which said severable material is integral with said forms, and lines indicate where said severance is to be made.

5. Card forms each comprising a base of substantial width and length dimensions, one of said dimensions being less than the corresponding dimension of a deck of cards, a wall extending upwardly from one side edge of said base with its inner surface extending at an acute angle to said base, the vertical height of said wall being not less than half the thickness of a deck of cards, there being not more than two walls extending from said base, two complementary forms being connectable together with their bases and their walls extending on opposite portions of a deck of cards to form a package.

6. Card forms each comprising a base of substantial width and length dimensions, neither of said dimensions being substantially greater than the corresponding dimension of a deck of cards, a wall extending upwardly from one side edge of said base with its inner surface extending at an acute angle to said base, the vertical height of said 9 wall being not less than half the thickness of a deck of cards, there being not more than two walls extending from said base, two complementary forms being connectable together with their bases and their walls extending on opposite portions of a deck of cards to form a package.

7. Card forms each comprising a base of substantial width and length dimensions, a wall extending upwardly from one side edge of said base with its inner surface extending at an acute angle to said base, the dimension of said base extending from said wall being less than the corresponding dimension of a deck of cards the vertical height of said wall being not less than half the thickness of a deck of cards, there being not more than two walls extending from said base, two complementary forms being connectable together with their bases and then walls extending on opposite portions of a deck of cards to form a package.

8. A pair of card forms each comprising a base of substantially the width of the cards and of a length less than that of the cards, and having only an upwardly and forwardly extending back wall and a side wall each of a height not less than half the thickness of a deck of cards, said back wall and side wall being secured together and to the base, means for holding said forms with their bases, side walls and back walls defining a six-sided'storage compartment for packaging at least one deck of cards, the side wall of one form being on the opposite edge of the base with relation to the side wall of the other form.

9. The invention according to claim 8 in which said means is a wrapping covering said forms.

10. A card shuflling device comprising two forms, each form comprising a base of substantial length and width corresponding substantially to those of a deck of cards, one of said dimensions being sufiiciently less than the corresponding dimension of a deck of cards to facilitate grasping thereof, a wall extending upwardly from one edge of said base with its inner surface at an acute angle to said base and having its outer surface extending at an acute angle to said base, the vertical height of said wall being not less than half the thickness of a deck of cards, there being not morethan two walls'extending from said base, said two forms' being positionable in end-to-end angular relationship such as to permit intermixing of the cards on said forms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

